General Principles of Constitutional and Administrative Law Fourth Edition John Alder General Principles of Constitutional and Administrative Law Palgrave Macmillan LawMasters SeriesEditorMariseCremona StephenJudge BUSINESS LAW (2ndedn) JanetDine COMPANY LAW (4thedn) JohnAlder GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF CONSTITUTIONAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE LAW (4thedn) EwanMcKendrick CONTRACT LAW (4thedn) PriscillaSarton CONVEYANCING(3rdedn) JonathanHerring CRIMINAL LAW (3rdedn) DebbieJ.Lockton EMPLOYMENT LAW (4thedn) RaymondEmson EVIDENCE KateStandley FAMILY LAW (3rdedn) DavidCowan HOUSING LAW AND POLICY TinaHartandLindaFazzani INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW (2ndedn) KateGreenandJoeCursley LAND LAW(4thedn) MargaretWilkieandGodfreyCole LANDLORD AND TENANT LAW (4thedn) JoShaw LAW OF THE EUROPEAN UNION (3rdedn) CatherineRendell LAW OF SUCCESSION IanMcLeod LEGAL METHOD (4thedn) IanMcLeod LEGAL THEORY RobertEast SOCIAL SECURITY LAW AlastairMullisandKenOliphant TORTS (3rdedn) General Principles of Constitutional and Administrative Law Fourth Edition John Alder ProfessorofLaw,UniversityofNewcastleuponTyne With contributions from Michael Haley, Barry Hough, Richard Mullender Law series editor: Marise Cremona ProfessorofEuropeanCommercialLaw, CentreforCommercialLawStudies,QueenMary,UniversityofLondon &JohnAlder,1989,1994,1999,2002 Allrightsreserved.No.reproduction,copyortransmissionofthis publicationmaybemadewithoutwrittenpermission. Noparagraphofthispublicationmaybereproduced,copiedortransmitted savewithwrittenpermissionorinaccordancewiththeprovisionsofthe Copyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988,orunderthetermsofanylicence permittinglimitedcopyingissuedbytheCopyrightLicensingAgency, 90TottenhamCourtRoad,LondonW1T4LP. Anypersonwhodoesanyunauthorisedactinrelationtothispublication maybeliabletocriminalprosecutionandcivilclaimsfordamages. Theauthorhasassertedhisrighttobeidentifiedastheauthorofthiswork inaccordancewiththeCopyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988. Published2002by PALGRAVEMACMILLAN Houndmills,Basingstoke,HampshireRG216XSand 175FifthAvenue,NewYork,N.Y.10010 Companiesandrepresentativesthroughouttheworld PALGRAVEMACMILLANistheglobalacademicimprintofthePalgrave MacmillandivisionofSt.Martin’sPress,LLCandofPalgraveMacmillanLtd. Macmillan$isaregisteredtrademarkintheUnitedStates,UnitedKingdom andothercountries.PalgraveisaregisteredtrademarkintheEuropean Unionandothercountries. ISBN0–333–97164–7 Thisbookisprintedonpapersuitableforrecyclingandmadefromfully managedandsustainedforestsources. AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 TypesetbyAarontypeLimited Easton,Bristol,England PrintedandboundinGreatBritainby CreativePrint&Design(Wales),EbbwVale Contents Preface xi Tableof Cases xiii Tableof Statutes xxxvi Part I FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES 1 The Natureof Constitutional Law 3 1.1 Introduction;What isa Constitution? 3 1.2 Civic Republicanism 8 1.3 Representative Democracy 10 Summary 14 FurtherReading 15 Exercises 16 2 Constitutional Values 17 2.1 TheNation State, the Enlightenment and the SocialContract 17 2.2 Incommensurablesand Uncombinables 19 2.3 Hobbes:Constrained Individualism 24 2.4 Locke: Liberalism andMajoritarianism 27 2.5 Rousseau:Communitarianism 29 2.6 Hume:ACommon Law Approach 32 2.7 Liberalism andUtilitarianism 32 Summary 37 FurtherReading 37 Exercises 38 3 The Sourcesof the Constitution 39 3.1 Writtenand UnwrittenConstitutions 39 3.2 TheCommon Law Constitution 44 3.3 Conventions(BarryHough) 47 3.4 Lawand Convention 54 3.5 Codificationof Conventions(BarryHough) 57 3.6 TheDignified andEfficient Constitution 58 Summary 59 FurtherReading 61 Exercises 61 v vi Contents 4 TheStructure ofthe UKGovernment: AnOverview 62 4.1 TheInformal Constitution 62 4.2 Crownv. Parliament: Historical Outline 64 4.3 TheGrowth of the Executive 69 4.4 TheConcept ofthe State 70 4.5 TheLegislature 74 4.6 TheCentral Executive 75 4.7 ParliamentaryGovernment 77 4.8 ‘Hollowed-Out’ Government 79 4.9 Ethics in Government 81 4.10 TheJudiciary 83 4.11 ThePrivy Council 84 4.12 Citizenship 85 4.13 ConstitutionalReform 88 Summary 89 FurtherReading 90 Exercises 91 5 Constitutionalism:The Ruleof Lawandthe Separation ofPowers 92 5.1 Introduction:The Nature andPurpose ofthe Rule ofLaw 92 5.2 TheCore Meaning of the Rule ofLaw 94 5.3 TheExtended Ruleof Law 95 5.4 Dicey’s Versionof the Rule of Law 97 5.5 TheInternational Ruleof Law 101 5.6 Dissent andthe Rule ofLaw 104 5.7 TheSeparation of Powers 105 Summary 118 FurtherReading 119 Exercises 119 6 ParliamentarySupremacy 121 6.1 TheMeaning of ParliamentarySupremacy 122 6.2 Historical Development 123 6.3 TheApplication ofParliamentary Supremacy 125 6.4 TheIngredients of anActof Parliament 127 6.5 Dividing ParliamentarySupremacy? 129 6.6 ParliamentarySupremacyand the Ruleof Law 136 6.7. Conclusion 140 6.8 Note: DelegatedLegislation 140 Summary 141 FurtherReading 142 Exercises 142 Contents vii Part II THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF POWER 7 Federalism andDevolution 147 7.1 Introduction:Federal andDevolved Government 147 7.2 Scotland 150 7.3 NorthernIreland 154 7.4 Wales 160 7.5 TheChannel Islands andthe Isleof Man 162 7.6 BritishOverseas Territories 163 Summary 163 FurtherReading 164 Exercises 164 8 Local Government 165 8.1 LocalAuthority Organisation andFunctions 166 8.2 StructureandPowers 168 8.3 ControlbyCentral Government 169 8.4 Internal Constitution 170 8.5 PartyPolitics 172 8.6 Finance 174 8.7 TheLocal Ombudsman 177 Summary 179 FurtherReading 179 Exercises 180 9 The EuropeanUnion 181 9.1 TheNature of the EuropeanUnion 181 9.2 Community Institutions 184 9.3 Democracyand the EuropeanUnion 192 9.4 Federalismand theEuropean Union 194 9.5 Community Law andNational Law 196 Summary 204 FurtherReading 205 Exercises 205 Part III GOVERNMENTAL INSTITUTIONS 10 Parliament 209 10.1 Historical Development 209 10.2 The Meetingof Parliament 214 10.3 The Functions ofParliament 215 10.4 Parliamentary Privilege andStandards 220 Summary 232 FurtherReading 234 Exercises 234 viii Contents 11 TheComposition ofParliament andParliamentary Elections 236 11.1 TheHouse of Lords 236 11.2 Houseof Lords Reform 241 11.3 Membership of the Houseof Commons 243 11.4 TheElectoral System 245 11.5 TheConduct of Campaigns 257 11.6 ElectionDisputes 262 Summary 262 FurtherReading 263 Exercises 264 12 ParliamentaryProcedure 265 12.1 Introduction 265 12.2 TheSpeaker 267 12.3 Legislative Procedure 268 12.4 FinancialProcedure 275 12.5 Supervision of theExecutive 279 12.6 Redress of Grievances 284 Summary 287 FurtherReading 288 Exercises 288 13 TheCrown 290 13.1 TheNature of the Crown 290 13.2 TheQueen 292 13.3 CrownImmunities 296 13.4 TheRoyal Prerogative 299 Summary 308 FurtherReading 309 Exercises 309 14 MinistersandDepartments 311 14.1 ThePrime Minister 311 14.2 TheCabinet 313 14.3 Ministers 315 14.4 Government Departments 317 14.5 MinisterialResponsibility (BarryHough) 318 14.6 Civil Servants 329 14.7 ExecutiveAgencies andthe ‘New Management’ 334 14.8 Non-Departmental PublicBodies 337 Summary 340 FurtherReading 341 Exercises 342 Contents ix 15 The Police andthe ArmedForces 344 15.1 Introduction 344 15.2 PoliceOrganisation and Control 344 15.3 PoliceAccountability 349 15.4 TheArmedForces 355 Summary 357 FurtherReading 358 Exercises 358 Part IV THE CITIZEN AND THE STATE 16 Judicial Review of the Executive:TheGrounds of Review 363 16.1 Introduction:Constitutional Basis ofJudicial Review 363 16.2 AppealandReview 366 16.3 Classificationof the Grounds of Review 368 16.4 Illegality 369 16.5 Irrationality/Unreasonableness 382 16.6 ProceduralImpropriety 386 Summary 398 FurtherReading 400 Exercises 400 17 Judicial Review Remedies 403 17.1 TheRange ofRemedies 403 17.2 TheJudicial ReviewProcedure 407 17.3 Choiceof Procedure:Public andPrivate Law 411 17.4 TheExclusion of Judicial Review 414 Summary 416 FurtherReading 416 Exercises 417 18 Human Rights andCivil Liberties 419 18.1 Introduction:The Bill ofRights Debate 419 18.2 TheCommon Law 423 18.3 TheEuropean Conventionon HumanRights 427 18.4 TheHuman RightsAct 1998 433 18.5 Restrictions onProtected Rights:Reasoning Methods 444 Summary 454 FurtherReading 455 Exercises 456 19 Freedom ofPolitical Expression 458 19.1 Introduction:Justifications forFreedom of Expression (with contributionbyRichard Mullender) 458 19.2 TheStatus of Freedom of Expression 462 19.3 ‘Prior Restraint’ andCensorship 464